Between you and me
by AndMuchMore
Summary: The assault on the Fearamid is in progress to rescue Ford who is the only one who knows how to stop Bill. But what is that weakness of Bill and what may it cost?


**Author's notes: A short story about an idea what may lie under Ford's sweater. Written in a bit of a hurry and probably not that good, because I wanted to get it out before the finale airs. It's more of a rough draft, so I might rewrite it on a later point. Hope you enjoy it anyways.  
**

The assault on the Fearamid was going according to plan. The crew had successfully entered Bill's lair and were now advancing to the throne room. With the copies that Stan made of the journal they had the counter-agent to the stone transformation.

Dipper led the charge, holding the spear he once used to fight against Multi-bear, while he and the other supernatural beings distracted Bill's henchmaniacs so they could go into the Fearamid mostly undisturbed.

And it was successful, as they haven't seen anyone. The assault team consisted out of Dipper, with Mabel and her grappling hook as his second-in-command. Soos, Wendy, Pacifica and Stan flanked them. With McGucket, and Blubs forming the rear guard.

It was hard to orient in these vast sprawling complex, but Dipper had an idea where they were going.

The dungeons.

They broke open the stone door and saw what was lying in Bill's prison.

Gideon was hanging from the walls, blue glowing chains holding him. His suit was in tatters, his skin under that bruised and bloody. He was in a world of pain for standing against Bill.

As they entered his swollen eyes tried to see who had come for him.

"It's already time for tha next round?" He asked, his voice didn't sound worried or afraid, just resigned to whatever fate Bill had bestowed upon him.

Mabel gasped at seeing him. Dipper had told her about what he had done for him, but he could only imagine what she thought after seeing him that way, even after all the bad things he has done.

"We're here to save you." Mabel said and Gideon's face lighted up. "Mabel-darling, ya came for me?" His voice was suddenly filled with hope.

Mabel and Dipper walked to the chains, trying to break them. "Don't think too much into that, Gideon." Mabel said, still sounding bitter, but her voice became softer. "But I don't want to see you like that...and I appreciate what you've done for my brother."

With a loud snap the chains broke and Gideon plummeted to the ground with a quick scream.

"We're going to stop Bill. Are you with us, Gideon?" Mabel asked him and extended a hand to help him up. "Whatever it takes..." Gideon said and was taking her hand, standing up.

With the new addition to her group, they made their way to the Throne Room. Ford was kept there and the transformed citizens and they needed all help they could get to defeat Bill.

They were bursting in the Throne Room. It was abandoned, Bill must have left trying to find a way to break through the barrier or helping his minions fighting. Dipper couldn't imagine what kind of sacrifice the supernatural citizens were taking with the distraction maneuver.

"Kids...? Stan!" They heard a voice. Next to the throne was Ford, chained with another of that glowing collars to the throne of frozen human agony.

"We're coming to save you." Dipper said while they made their way to the throne. "Soos, do you have the ingredients ready?"

Ford seemed confused. "You made it this far, just for me?" He didn't seem to have thought of someone coming for him.

Stan just grumbled. "Well, don't expect too much. We also came because you know how to defeat that flying nacho."

Ford's expression darkened a bit. "Of course you wouldn't save someone unless you also would get something back." But he still seemed to be happy for his family to come to save him. But suddenly he screamed. "Careful! Behind you!"

They all turned around and saw how an Eyebat was turning Sheriff Blubs into a stone figure. Dipper threw the spear and it hit the Eyebat right into pupil. The impaled beast made unnatural screams that should have been impossible for a beast without lungs, while it fell to the ground, flopping like a fish on the dry ground.

But it was already too late. Blubs had become stone.

"There's a way to revert the process." Ford started, but Stan cut him off. "Yeah, we know, Poindexter. We already got the stuff prepared." Stan said dismissive.

They hauled the stone Blubs to the throne, while Dipper and Mabel broke the chain around Ford's neck. He just hugged the twins the moment he got free.

Stan and Soos in the meanwhile made their way to the throne, preparing to sprinkle the elixir on the frozen town population. And the throne of frozen human agony collapsed in itself as out of the hard stone became soft flesh, and the frozen human agony became just ordinary human agony.

The people tried their best to spread out, and not lying on their friends and family and checking that no one was seriously injured after being turned into stone or lying under a whole town's population. Blubs was already hugging the turned back Durland and both were crying over their reunion.

"There's no time to lose, great uncle Ford. You said you know of another way to defeat Bill. Tell us about!" Dipper asked him.

Ford 's hand just wandered over his sweater. "I have engraved myself with powerful runes that may weaken Bill or even detain him for eternity. But I must warn you, that comes with a price. I need volunteers who are willing to take such a risk, because it might weaken them, too."

With these words most of the citizens who heard them got suddenly quiet and looked at each other. Who would stand up to such a sacrifice?

"We'll do it!" Dipper said and grabbed Mabel's hand. Together they rose their hands up. "For Gravity Falls! For the world! For the universe!"

"When you two work together, anything is possible. I followed you two to the end of the world, and I ain't stopping now." Wendy said and grabbed Dipper's hand. He couldn't other than to smile as she took his hand.

"You helped me through some rough time, and I help you now, or whatever." Robbie said while he looked from Tambry to Mabel. He got to her side and she gave him a hand.

"For ya Mabel, I would do anything." Gideon said, though he seemed a bit bummed that he couldn't be in Robbie's position and take her hand, so he settles with the closest position that was available.

"I'll do anything for the Pines family" Soos contributed joined them.

Pacifica got to Wendy's side. "I don't want to be a link in the world's worst chain. Let me be a link in the world's best chain!"

"Ya brought my mind back okay, so I'm bringin' the world back okay." McGucket said, and Ford gave him a sad look and hugged him.

"I'm sorry, Fiddleford. For everything that happened to you and that I can never make up to you." A tear streamed down his face. "Don't worry, Stanford. Ya niblings helped me instead."

Ford took Soos' hand and watched Stan. "Lee, want to join us?" He extended the hand to his brother. Stan looked grumpy. "High Six?" Ford tried to persuade him.

Stan neared his brother and took the hand of the Northwest girl, but he was still reluctant to look at his brother.

Suddenly a voice rang out over them. _"The mortals are trying to fight back? How adorable."_

Bill was flying over them, in all of his three-dimensional glory.

" _You really think that will stop me, Sixer. You know what this costs. You're willing to go through with this? It won't help you in the end."_

Ford shaked his free hand at the demonic chaos god over them. "Go back into the nightmare you came from!" Then he looked at his brother and raised the hand. Stan still looked sore at his brother.

"High Six?"he said and he raised his hand to his brother's hand. As the two touched, Ford was suddenly starting to get a bright glow. A blue light spread from under his sweater across his arms and to both Stan and Soos.

The two screamed as the light reached them, but they didn't let go. The light streamed further and further over the chain of people. Everyone screamed as it touched them, as they felt their life draining from them and instead being replaced with pain.

But another, more haunting noise could be heard than just their human agony. It was the scream of the eldritch creature that was floating above them. The pyramid was starting to crumble and bricks broke from Bill and disintegrated.

With every agonizing second it seemed like they would die, but with every second Bill became less and less. After what seemed to be an eternity Bill's last parts, his hat and his bowtie crumbled to dust.

Ford broke the connection and everyone fell to ground, exhausted. Gideon, Robbie and Pacifica even passed out from the pain.

"That-that was it?" Dipper asked cautiously. "That was all that was needed to destroy Bill?"

"No." Ford said, looking around himself, seemingly startled by something. "It only destroyed his physical form. He's still here and he's still powerful. But I don't know where he went, he isn't where he was supposed to end up."

"I know where he is." Stan said and everyone looked at him. "How do you know?" Ford asked and looked at Stan.

"Oh, I've got a hunch." Stan said and his eyes glowed yellow. "Thought I would be taking you, Sixer? But I think it's more fun when the entire family get's involved."

Ford looked shocked for a moment, but he composed himself and looked at his brother with grim determination. "Of course I thought that. It was always just you and me, always something between us two, as simple as that."

"To who you are talking now, me or your brother. Oh, and don't flatter yourself. You're not that important to me." Bill just commanded his vessel to laugh.

"As you would let go of the last opportunity to possess me, especially because you can't anymore because of the metal plate."

Stan's body just marched menacingly to Ford. "No fighting, no kicking, no shooting, Sixer? Don't want to hurt the precious body of your brother"

Ford just glared at his nemesis. "Leave him, demon. Let this be how it always was, just you and me."

Bill laughed again. "Again, your mortals are so cute, believing how important you are. You're nothing to me, just ants that I burn to amuse myself."

Ford now yelled in rage. "Without me, you would be nothing. I was it who summoned you, I was it who build the portal. I'm a mortal but I'm also the reason why you're here. Without me, you wouldn't be here. So it was always between us two, because without me, you would be nothing but a strange nightmare!"

Bill just took Stan's hand to his chin and walked in front of the genius who led him in this world.. "Huh, so you might be right, it was always just us here, so it may be time to see how it would be really **without you!** "

Stan's hand punched forward quickly, impaling his brother's chest. Bill formed a maniac grin on Stan's mouth. Blood was running down the forearm, and trickling on the ground, as everything else was silent every drop that hit the stone sounded like the beat of the drum.

But Ford was it who now grinned. "Yes." He pressed out. "Always us...two, that means...without me...is without you."

Ford's sweater started to glow, burning away and showing the underlying runes that were tattooed on his chest. Ancient symbols, every single filled with arcane energies.

"Now you got your last possession...you will follow me in the void that comes after..." Ford whispered before he collapsed on the ground.

"No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no..." they heard Stan screaming, at first his voice was tainted by Bill, full of pain and fear, but it slowly faded, and became the voice of Dipper and Mabel's grunkle, still filled with pain and fear.

Tears streamed down his face. "Please, I just got him back, I can't lose him again! It's my fault, I activated that damn machine, why couldn't he haven taken me?"

Ford just coughed up some blood while his eyes where starting to close, but still a golden glimmer shined from them. "It was you who was taken, but someone else paid for it...So much I wished I could have done, so much things that are left undone..."

And with these last words Ford again disappeared into another dimension, one where it was impossible to bring him back from. And he took with him who he once regarded as his best friend, but who betrayed him in the most important moment.


End file.
